Day 10 (Oct 12 Thu)
Karen was later than usual this morning - the rain had caused the traffic to increase significantly. I only managed a 5-minute conversation with her before I left for my first formal CRC (Cross Role Cohort) meeting at the Media Centre (it would be the first of two meetings held there today.) Monica had covered for me when I was absent last Thursday so Christine said I should do hers this week to be fair - which I gladly do. Reminds me of the time I use to take minutes for MHI back home in church for our monthly meetings. This, I guess, has a higher level of stress because it would be submitted to the school principal (Mrs Russo), Harvard authorities and then distributed to the rest of the CRC during the next meeting. Hah! Church doesn't seem to make me as stressed up.
Anyhow, it was a good time of discussion. We broke into small groups to discuss about the goals for CRC and how we could, as a group, close the achievement gap for students with IEPs (Individualize Education Program). It was my first time interacting with different teachers and had an interesting view of how they carried the school culture and practices. After the one-hour meeting, we actually had a Learning walk. Mrs Russo was supposed to take us on the tour around The Murphy but there was another group of visitors and so Glenda and Christine were the ones who showed us around. So it was, that 10 of us walked in to many classrooms. We were told that the kids were used to having people walk in and out of their rooms and that they weren't that easily distracted. Each classroom bore the individual character of the teacher, but they all had the same elements - a word wall (new words and their meanings were pinned there), a class library (sorted as would a real library would do), anchor charts (differ from class to class and level to level but examples include ways to choose a good book and what do good readers look like) as well as standards and expectations that were displayed with student work. These were consistent and evident in all grades even from the lowest of the kindergarten up to the middle school level. Student work were also displayed along the hallways. We were told that it was the school's interest and focus to have students feel a sense of achievement and identity when they see their hard work displayed for all to see.
I finally took back to class and helped Karen conduct part of the lesson. The day went by pretty fast and soon, it was time for dismissal. Went down for the after-school assembly and hung around until most of the bus students had boarded their bus before returning back to class for a breather. Then it was middle school meeting (MSAW) at the Media Centre. Mrs Russo gave us copies of the report for the school's performance in MCAS (can't remember what it stands for but it's like a standardized test for students at certain grades) and shared with us her concerns and how she would like those areas to be improved. I guess a public school is different from a partially-funded government - I assume the term used here is charter school though I might need to work on finding that out - middle school where I came from. Indeed, it is obvious that a lot of hard work and effort of both the teachers and students over the years brought The Murphy to where it currently stands.
Anyhow, it was a good time of discussion. We broke into small groups to discuss about the goals for CRC and how we could, as a group, close the achievement gap for students with IEPs (Individualize Education Program). It was my first time interacting with different teachers and had an interesting view of how they carried the school culture and practices. After the one-hour meeting, we actually had a Learning walk. Mrs Russo was supposed to take us on the tour around The Murphy but there was another group of visitors and so Glenda and Christine were the ones who showed us around. So it was, that 10 of us walked in to many classrooms. We were told that the kids were used to having people walk in and out of their rooms and that they weren't that easily distracted. Each classroom bore the individual character of the teacher, but they all had the same elements - a word wall (new words and their meanings were pinned there), a class library (sorted as would a real library would do), anchor charts (differ from class to class and level to level but examples include ways to choose a good book and what do good readers look like) as well as standards and expectations that were displayed with student work. These were consistent and evident in all grades even from the lowest of the kindergarten up to the middle school level. Student work were also displayed along the hallways. We were told that it was the school's interest and focus to have students feel a sense of achievement and identity when they see their hard work displayed for all to see.
I finally took back to class and helped Karen conduct part of the lesson. The day went by pretty fast and soon, it was time for dismissal. Went down for the after-school assembly and hung around until most of the bus students had boarded their bus before returning back to class for a breather. Then it was middle school meeting (MSAW) at the Media Centre. Mrs Russo gave us copies of the report for the school's performance in MCAS (can't remember what it stands for but it's like a standardized test for students at certain grades) and shared with us her concerns and how she would like those areas to be improved. I guess a public school is different from a partially-funded government - I assume the term used here is charter school though I might need to work on finding that out - middle school where I came from. Indeed, it is obvious that a lot of hard work and effort of both the teachers and students over the years brought The Murphy to where it currently stands.
posted by sarabel @ 9:41 AM
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